Boetsch took the center early and kicked to the front and took Munoz down. But Munoz reversed nicely on the ground and landed a few body shots before moving back to the feet. But Boetsch scooped him up and dumped him right on the canvas again. Boetsch held on, but Munoz earned the break and the two went back to the center. Boetsch pushed forward and again things tied up on the fence. But Munoz dipped down and got a takedown – though he couldn’t put together any offense there.

A Munoz takedown moments later led to a Boetsch guillotine attempt, and when Munoz tried to spin out of it, Boetsch won the ground battle before they moved back to the feet with 90 seconds left. And there, Munoz landed a few big shots for his best offense of the fight. With 20 seconds left, Munoz landed another solid combo. But it was nothing compared to what he had in store in the second and third rounds.

Both fighters landed kicks early in the second before Munoz tied Boetsch up on the fence to land knees. A right hand by Boetsch was on the button, but seconds later Munoz recovered to land a takedown, where he delivered massive body shot after massive body shot. In total, Munoz landed 116 strikes on the ground – at a 94 percent clip.

A Superman punch nearly landed for Munoz in the third, but Boetsch went after several chokes that appeared close. And after exploding out of another submission attempt from Boetsch, Munoz again went to work with ground-and-pound as Boetsch covered up. Munoz had a kimura attempt that was close with less than two minutes left in the fight, but lost it. Munoz had a brief rear-naked choke, but gave up on it to continue with the ground and pound. Boetsch went for a late knee bar, but it was for naught.

During his yearlong layoff, which included an injury, Munoz went through a well-documented depression that saw him balloon up over 260 pounds.

“I feel amazing right now,” Munoz said. “I’m just living proof what you can do with determination, will and desire. This was awesome. I told you I’d play some Donkey Kong – Donkey Kong showed up today.”

Munoz (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) is back in the win column after a loss to Chris Weidman nearly a year ago, and he has five wins in his past six fights. Boetsch (16-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) lost his second straight after a loss to Costas Philippou in December.

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